Henry VI of England

WI: He dies in 1450 or 1451, after having lingered in a coma for several months. He is of course, childless when he dies. Who succeeds him? Will one of the Beauforts make a bid for the throne or will it be Richard, Duke of York?
 
The Beauforts were never fully recognized as princes and princesses and their rights on the thone were uncertain, while York's were indisputable and his line was the one with the clearest legittimacy. The Beauforts can try to take the throne but York will be wieved as the legitimate King by the majority and in the end will win an eventual war
 
It would IMO pretty clearly be York. Unless Henry did some pretty heavy levelling for Edmund before his coma, he'd be pretty easily outgunned and outspent by York.
 
Well here are your options in 1451 - suspect it is really a three horse race between the Duke of York, the Duke of Somerset and the Duke of Exeter

Legitimate descendants of John of Gaunt
1) Issue of Philipa of Lancaster eldest daughter of John of Gaunt - represented in 1451 by - Alfonso V of Portugal
2) Issue of Elizabeth of Lancaster - second daughter of John of Gaunt - represented in 1451 by - Henry Holland 3rd Duke of Exeter
3) Issue of Catherine of Lancaster - daughter of John of Gaunt by his second wife - represented in 1451 by - John II King of Castile and Leon

Legitimated claimants through John of Gaunt
1) Issue of John Earl of Somerset eldest surviving son of John of Gaunt and Catherine Swynford - represented in 1451 by Lady Margaret Beaufort or alternatively by her uncle Edmund Beaufort 2nd Duke of Somerset

In strict primogeniture from Edward III it would be
Legitimate descendants of Lionel of Clarence
Richard Duke of York and issue
Isabel of York and issue
Henry 2nd Earl of Northumberland and issue (son of Lady Elizabeth Mortimer)
Thomas Clifford, 8th Baron de Clifford (son of Elizabeth Percy) and family
Legitimate descendants of John of Gaunt as above mentioned
Legitimate descendants of Edmund Duke of York as above mentioned plus
George Neville 4th Baron Bergavenny (grandson of Constance of York)
Anne Neville Countess of Warwick (granddaughter of Contance of York)
Legitimate descendants of Thomas of Woodstock
Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham and family
Henry Bourchier Earl of Essex *married to Isabel of York and family
Henry Holland 3rd Duke of Exeter (son of Lady Anne Stafford)
 
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